Heartbeats
by Joy Blue
Summary: Clark Kent had been around Chloe Sullivan for a long time, he knew the difference in her heartbeats.


Heartbeat

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Clark Kent had been around Chloe Sullivan for a long time, he knew the difference in her heartbeats.

Like anybody else, Chloe's heartbeat changes base on her emotions. Happiness, fear, sadness and love.

He wanted to forget the sound of her heartbeat when he left her after her husband's death. It wasn't his proudest moment, and he walked away, willing himself not to listen to the beat of her breaking heart.

There was a nervous thump-thump, whenever she hid something from him. He never liked hearing it from her, because it meant she wasn't being completely honest with him. The last time he heard it, she was hiding Davis in her basement.

The erratic thump-thump-thump was like a drum beating in his ears, and this was the heartbeat he never wanted to hear. It was the sound of Chloe's fear. He heard it too often, caused it more than once, and the one time he welcomed this sound was when he realised she was alive, lying in the hospital morgue.

Walking down with her to meet Jimmy on her wedding day gave Clark the chance to hear a calm thump. Free from worry for protecting his secrets, it was a welcome change to hear the steady rhythm as she married the photographer in the barn.

Since Jimmy's death, and the aftermath of doomsday, her heartbeat sounded like a normal thump. It was as if her heart was just beating to keep her alive, but that was it. He could hear the sounds, but they felt empty. The empty thump surrounded Chloe, and he couldn't listen, didn't want to listen because he didn't know how he can fix it.

The night at the inn gave Clark an indication that there was something different. Seeing Chloe and Oliver in matching robes was a surprise enough, but hearing that nervous thump-thump made Clark pay attention. Oliver's heart beat didn't mirror Chloe's, but it was quicker than normal.

The next day at breakfast, the nervous thump was still there, while she tried to dodge the insinuations from Lois regarding her relationship with Oliver. Even when Lois took her outside, he heard the words that Chloe said, but he could only register the beat of her heart.

She was in denial, her words did not match the way she tried to regulate her breathing, as if she was training herself not to feel, to convey to Lois that their relationship wasn't anything more than something fun.

He could hear the nervous beat in Oliver's heart, as the two cousins stayed outside, and he could practically hear his heart sigh in relief as Chloe and Lois walked in, with that smile on Chloe's face, and the look of approval on his ex-girlfriend's face.

When they found out Oliver was taken, the nervous beat of Chloe's heart dominated his senses. It was different from all the times she was in danger, from all the times he had saved her. The beating of her heart was more erratic, and while she was just standing there, looking at the monitors, her heart was beating wildly, like it would escape from her very chest.

The moment Oliver walked in, he couldn't hear Chloe's heart until it thumped in such a way he had never heard before. He watched as Chloe wrapped her arms around Oliver, and watched as the two of them stared at each other, for that moment, her heart synched with Oliver's.

"I'm glad you're safe too."

His words caused the two of them to part, but their hearts continued to beat together, until it slowly settled on their own rhythm. He'd never seen Chloe, never heard her heart beat in a manner he could never describe. Not even when she married Jimmy.

He would never admit that he listened on Oliver's conversation with Tess. Oliver's heart beat was strong; as was his warning to the woman he once loved. When Oliver walked away, his heart was beating; almost an angry thump, until it slowed, and he heard Chloe's voice.

Their heartbeat was not in synch, but there was a sound of comfort as they walked next to each other, and he could hear a change in the beat of Oliver's heart with Chloe's words.

"You'd better be careful, Ollie. I'm gonna start to think you've fallen for me."

Even from the distance, he could hear Oliver's heart reply in an affirmative beat.

Followed by Chloe's as their heartbeat found a rhythm that told Clark that Chloe Sullivan was falling in love.


End file.
